Ok, so now I have 32k on my bike since the last post. It looks like I'll be doing the school in Hallett, OK on 11/18. I'm not sure if you'd be interested. I've hitched myself a ride up there (I don't have a truck), but I needed to work on my skills.

I'm still cool with doing some riding some time with other locals. We may be going to Jasper on Sunday with some friends. Ca depends. We are doing the puppy run tonight and tomorrow. (another thread) I'm running a puppy to Fayetteville.

PM me if you are in the Central Arkansas area and would like to ride here or in the Northern or Central Northern part of the state. Hwy 341 (I know Snuffy who takes pictures up there), Hwy 123, Hwy 74, Hwy 43, Hwy 16...all those beauties.

Thanks for the offer of school! I'll be just getting into AR about that time and after being away for 3 months, I'm gonna wanna chill for a few days.

OK, there's ton of information all over the ADVrider forums about this topic and probably even some here in this thread but I'm wanting to get the most current opinions from you gals here so I'm going to ask.

Because a girl can never have too many motorcycles I want another one. I'm in the market for a tiny dual sport bike, tiny as in 200 to 250 ccs. I'm short, 5'0" so the KLX250 is out right from the start but there are a number of others I've considered.

I would like to hear what any of you who own and ride the smaller dual sport bike have to say about your bike of choice. Tell me what you like and don't like about it. If you've had one in the last five years or so and have moved on to something else tell me about that too.

For me I want to be able to tour on it, taking longish trips involving a lot of gravel roads and trails but yet hitting the pavement too. I already have my F650GS and I like it for trips that are more along the lines of 80% pavement 20% gravel roads or so. With a smaller dual sport the trips will be more along the lines of 80% off pavement 20% pavement, and the off pavement will be a bit more technical than I want to tackle with the F650.

OK ladies, I anxiously waiting to read what your thoughts are.

I have a 2000 XT 225 and LOVE IT. I think it is very comfortable and does well on the street. I have had mine up to 70mph before but wouldn't suggest it for any highway use. Off road it is a blast. My boyfriend and his dirty riding buddies have been shocked at how capable and rugged it is. It can handle just about any terrain. It has been dropped/dumped MANY times and always fires up first try. It gets about 80mpg so it has some great range as well. I am about 5'2" and can get both of the balls of my feet down on it which helps offroad. I also have no problems picking it up unassisted (a must for fun offroading) I really think when I finally wear my little XT out I will be replacing it with another.

There is a great thread of XT225 junkies on ADVrider if you have any questions about the bike

I have a 2000 XT 225 and LOVE IT. I think it is very comfortable and does well on the street. I have had mine up to 70mph before but wouldn't suggest it for any highway use. Off road it is a blast. My boyfriend and his dirty riding buddies have been shocked at how capable and rugged it is. It can handle just about any terrain. It has been dropped/dumped MANY times and always fires up first try. It gets about 80mpg so it has some great range as well. I am about 5'2" and can get both of the balls of my feet down on it which helps offroad. I also have no problems picking it up unassisted (a must for fun offroading) I really think when I finally wear my little XT out I will be replacing it with another.

There is a great thread of XT225 junkies on ADVrider if you have any questions about the bike

I have a 2000 XT 225 and LOVE IT. I think it is very comfortable and does well on the street. I have had mine up to 70mph before but wouldn't suggest it for any highway use. Off road it is a blast. My boyfriend and his dirty riding buddies have been shocked at how capable and rugged it is. It can handle just about any terrain. It has been dropped/dumped MANY times and always fires up first try. It gets about 80mpg so it has some great range as well. I am about 5'2" and can get both of the balls of my feet down on it which helps offroad. I also have no problems picking it up unassisted (a must for fun offroading) I really think when I finally wear my little XT out I will be replacing it with another.

There is a great thread of XT225 junkies on ADVrider if you have any questions about the bike:

+1

I also have an XT225 and love it! I am 5' nothing with a 27" inseam. I can tip toe on this bike stock, but we cut the seat down about 1.5" and I can get the balls of my feet down comfortably now. I have had mine up to about 75mph, but it really seems happiest around 65-70, especially if it's loaded up with gear. It does great off road, it will tractor through just about anything in first gear! I do sometimes wish it had a little more power - mostly when riding in sand (I hate sand, but it's freakin' everywhere ), but other than that it has been a great DS bike for me!

Taking a nap.

Loaded up, just outside of Lake City looking for a camping spot.

Good luck in your search, and be sure to let us know what you end up with!

I also have an XT225 and love it! I am 5' nothing with a 27" inseam. I can tip toe on this bike stock, but we cut the seat down about 1.5" and I can get the balls of my feet down comfortably now. I have had mine up to about 75mph, but it really seems happiest around 65-70, especially if it's loaded up with gear. It does great off road, it will tractor through just about anything in first gear! I do sometimes wish it had a little more power - mostly when riding in sand (I hate sand, but it's freakin' everywhere ), but other than that it has been a great DS bike for me!

Taking a nap.

Loaded up, just outside of Lake City looking for a camping spot.

Good luck in your search, and be sure to let us know what you end up with!

The bike nap is a position I'm very familiar with Great picture. Knowing there's that much padding that can be cut out of the seat is a huge help, I wondered about that. The bike being happy at 65-70 mph sure would be nice.

Are there side bags/boxes available for the XT225? I'm sure there is something that can be made to work but if there's something made for it that's even better.

The bike nap is a position I'm very familiar with Great picture. Knowing there's that much padding that can be cut out of the seat is a huge help, I wondered about that. The bike being happy at 65-70 mph sure would be nice.

Are there side bags/boxes available for the XT225? I'm sure there is something that can be made to work but if there's something made for it that's even better.

As far as I know they don't make any XT225 specific luggage. The bags in that picture were some really old things we had from another motorcycle that we sold - they blew out on the way to West Fest this summer , but when we got there another Adventure rider happened to have some Wolfman bags that he had brought to sell - they are much more bomb proof! My husband took a piece of flat stock aluminum, about an inch wide and attached it to the passenger footpeg mount bolt and a grab handle bolt to keep the luggage off the muffler.

You can see the bowed out piece of aluminum over the muffler in this picture:

We put a piece of aluminum on the other side too just to help with balance.

As far as I know they don't make any XT225 specific luggage. The bags in that picture were some really old things we had from another motorcycle that we sold - they blew out on the way to West Fest this summer , but when we got there another Adventure rider happened to have some Wolfman bags that he had brought to sell - they are much more bomb proof! My husband took a piece of flat stock aluminum, about an inch wide and attached it to the passenger footpeg mount bolt and a grab handle bolt to keep the luggage off the muffler.

You can see the bowed out piece of aluminum over the muffler in this picture:

We put a piece of aluminum on the other side too just to help with balance.

The picture helped me visualize what can be done to keep the bags away from the hot parts. There are always creative ways to get what we want on bikes it just takes some thinking and seeing what others do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HokieDNA01

You can find some good tail and side racks for the XT on this page. Lots of people on the XT thread I posted also use a hard tail bag (I think it would get banged up)

Super link thanks for providing it. Luckily I have the time to research what bike I want and how to get it set up the way I want it. And even better yet is that I have all you super ADVriders to help me along.

Lady bug, I have an 05 Xt 225 for sale. It has about 1285 miles on it. I am the second owner, I bought the bike with 385 miles. I took the stock tires off and replaced with a DOT approved knobby tire as I rode mostly on gravel roads. ( I wanted the tires to stick in the corners) The reason I'm selling is this bike makes my 4th bike..........I have to get rid of at least one. Calll me at 509-429-8669. I'm in Okanogan, just happen to be coming to spokane this wknd 11/10/07.